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ammonia burn or something else?

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I got a new goldfish. It went through quarantine without incident and was added to the main tank on Sunday. Yesterday (so three days later) I noticed a black discoloration on one of its gill covers. Today it is still there. I think the discoloration is larger but I'm not positive.
My best guess at a diagnosis is ammonia burns. However I checked my water parameters and as usual they checked out good - 0/0/10.

Is there a delay between when a fish is exposed to ammonia and when ammonia burns appear? Is it possible that this fish either overwhelmed the filter in the QT tank or caused a mini-cycle upon being added to the main tank, but the burn is only showing up a few days after the ammonia exposure ended? Or is it something else?

In my experience ammonia burn takes a while to appear. I think it is a bit like smoking where the damage doesn't surface until later. It may not even have been your tank. Goldfish aren't exactly treated like royalty in most pet stores...

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

If there is ammonia burn the fish's gills are injuried as well; add an air stone, and consider a 1 tsp salt per ten gals of water for a few weeks (remember water changes require adding make up salt.) Do measure ammonia levels are zero - also, check for nitrites to play it safe. Remember, salt (small amounts) helps to protect from bacteria infection so can be useful as a general tonic. Salt will help damaged gills function better enabling the fish to get rid of waste from its blood even if the gills are harmed.

Last edited by Cermet; 01-28-2013 at 01:11 PM.

Knowledge is fun(damental)

A 75 gal with eight Discus, fake plants, and a lot of wood also with sand substrate. Clean up crew is down to just two Sterba's Corys. Filters: continuous new water flow; canister w/UV, in-tank algae scrubber!! Finally, junked the nitrate removal unit from hell.

When ammonia in fresh or saltwater reaches a toxic level sufficient enough, the surface areas of a fish's eyes, fins and gills are chemically "burnt", which causes the protective mucus from these surfaces to be removed. This then allows parts of the body to become exposed to deteriorate, which in turn primarily leads to external and/or internal bacterial infections. The occurance of fishes becoming ill from ammonia burns is most commonly associated with the following situations.